ElectronicHard drive failures are the most common electronic disasters on your network that can affect the safety of your data. The first port of call to protect your data is redundancy, such as mirrored or RAID configured hard drives, which will protect you from a single failed hard drive. In the very unlikely event of a multiple hard drive failure, your next best choice for recovery is backup.

PhysicalA physical disaster such as fire, flood or earthquake is also an unlikely event to occur, but when they do, your data can be destroyed in minutes or simply become permanently inaccessible. In these instances your best recovery option is offsite backup, where your backup is held away from your site.

IntrusionA physical intrusion by a live human hacker is becoming increasingly common. Hackers find a way into the systems of small businesses, install a cryptolocker ransomware onto the network that prevents users and administrators from accessing the companies data. The hacker then demands payment for releasing the data. Unfortunately, this type of intrusion is becoming very common.

How to Prepare for each Scenario

Redundant Hard DrivesAdditional hard drives are used in conjunction with each other to continually keep a copy of your data, so that if a hard drive fails your network will not fail. This allows you some time to replace the faulty hard drive without interruption. The two most common forms of this redundancy is a Mirror or RAID hard drive configuration. A mirror requires two hard drives, and one is an exact copy of the other. When one hard drive fails, the other continues to work. One disadvantage of a mirror is that if your drive suffers from catastrophic corruption, it can affect both drives, causing both to fail at the same time. A RAID configuration requires three or more hard drives. Data is not copied, but is instead arranged across all the drives (called Data Striping) so that if one (or more) drives fail, the remaining drives can continue to operate uninterrupted. This configuration is more stable, because catastropic failures are less likely to affect all the drives at once.

Redundant Power SupplyAdditional power supplies are commonly used in servers that require high availability. This involves additional power supplies that are installed ready to supply power to a server in the event the working power supply fails. Power supplies are the most likely component in a server to fail, so redundant power supplies allows uninterrupted network access when a failure occurs.Local BackupKeeping a backup of your data is vital for recovering your data when all other methods have failed. Most important is to consider how that data will be retrieved when disaster strikes. Do you want to retrieve single files? Do you want to be able restore your entire network? Different backup methods allow different recovery methods. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is an effective way of backing up data.This method involves a collection of hard drives in an external enclosure that is used to backup your data. This method allows for the data to be recovered in whatever way the software allows. Your data is accessible immediately, and is physically secured within your own site.

Offsite BackupOffsite backup such as Portable Hard Drives, involves at least two individual external hard drives that are used alternatively to backup to. This method allows for your data to be recovered in whatever way the software allows, and as hard drives can hold large volumes of data they are suitable for a full network restore. They are also very portable, so are suitable for offsite backup. Alternatively you could use a USB memory stick. This method allows for your data to be recovered in whatever way the software allows, but USB Memory sticks typically not not hold large volumes of data, so are not suitable for a full network restore. However, they are very portable, so are suitable for offsite backup. USB Memory sticks are considered to be an unsuitable long term solution for backups, as the media is susceptible to damage.

Cloud BackupThis method involves copying your data to a data centre located somewhere else in the world using your internet connection. This method allows for any volume of data you internet connection can transfer and your data can be restored one file at a time, or a full network restore. However, you are entrusting your data with a third party to make it available when you require it and to secure it in their network from intruders and corruption.

Offsite BackupOffsite backup such as Portable Hard Drives will allow you to restore your data, however, you must be sure to have more than three (3) drives in your rotation, (five (5) drives is preferable) as drives that have been swapped in the morning routine can also become infested with the ransomware. If you only have two (2) drives in your rotation then all of your data will be compromised.Cloud BackupCloud backup is the most robust form of protection, as long as your rollback options are set correctly.

Secure your siteHackers make use of the vulnerabilities in your network. Poor administrator password choices, open ports and un-patched servers all leave opportunities that hackers can exploit. Employ a technician regularly to ensure that your security vulnerability is at its minimum possible. See our page on Managed Services for more details on how we can provide this service for you.

How We Can Help you Prepare

We can help you prepare a Disaster Preparation Plan. We will walk you through your specific requirements, and create a custom backup plan for your organisation.

Check out our Disaster Preparation Planner. This will help you get started, and from your answers we can prepare a plan for you.